Why Has Home Brew Become So Popular?

[Guysmiley54]

Lucky it is only us reading this thread because most of you guys are sending the craft back 20 years.

How so big guy?

 

[Sammus]

I can't understand how anyone can even kid them selves that theyre getting into a hobby because its cheap. hobbies by definition arent cheap.

I started it because I like making stuff, in particular (like food) I like making, and can make better, stuff than you can buy pre-packaged. Sure money is part of it, I don't understand why or how anyone would do this with cheapness as the #1 motivator.

 

[HoppingMad]

If the question is why has home brew become so popular, I wonder if it really has.

As Bum suggests, Coles have deleted Coopers Can kits from a number of their stores as they are failing to sell in large numbers.
For them placing more chips and nuts in this aisle is more profitable. So going by the assessment of one of the largest supermarket chains in the country you could say that Home Brew (in kits at least) is actually in decline. I have seen quite a few Brew on Premises and Home Brew Stores for sale of late. So is it growing? I really aren't so sure - and we're all quite biased here as we love homebrewing.

I think there was a resurgence of interest in Homebrewing during the Global Financial Crisis around 2006-2008. People were looking to save money and many of these people gravitated to this hobby. I have no solid figures to back this up, only that I know my local brew club grew quite substantially during this period.

I think that homebrew is still a niche hobby, I have a mate in a car club who has 800 members. Our club has 50 paid up and 10-15 hangers on that turn up occasionally. Is it more popular? Really don't know - but it is now more organised, and I guess it's no longer an underground pursuit. As the opening post suggests the stores selling Home Brew Product are now more visible than they were in the 80s and 90s, and those running them have a wider range of product and have got more professional. Part of this has to do with the success of Homebrewing in the US - the Australian scene has mirrored that in a smaller way and many of us source ingredients such as Amarillo & Cascade hops from there, and equipment such as pumps, mills, and kegging equipment from that part of the world.

Maybe our hobby as you suggest has grown in popularity slightly over the past decade, but it is a minnow compared to what has happened in the US. I was recently speaking to a homebrewer who was flying over to attend a festival in the midwest that featured 200 homebrewed 'wood aged' beers. In Australia we simply don't have the numbers to put on something like that.

But an interesting question. You'd need numbers and hard data to really know. I guess there's a lot of people in this forum.

Hopper.

 

[trustyrusty]

If the question is why has home brew become so popular, I wonder if it really has.

As Bum suggests, Coles have deleted Coopers Can kits from a number of their stores as they are failing to sell in large numbers.
For them placing more chips and nuts in this aisle is more profitable. So going by the assessment of one of the largest supermarket chains in the country you could say that Home Brew (in kits at least) is actually in decline. I have seen quite a few Brew on Premises and Home Brew Stores for sale of late. So is it growing? I really aren't so sure - and we're all quite biased here as we love homebrewing.

I think there was a resurgence of interest in Homebrewing during the Global Financial Crisis around 2006-2008. People were looking to save money and many of these people gravitated to this hobby. I have no solid figures to back this up, only that I know my local brew club grew quite substantially during this period.

I think that homebrew is still a niche hobby, I have a mate in a car club who has 800 members. Our club has 50 paid up and 10-15 hangers on that turn up occasionally. Is it more popular? Really don't know - but it is now more organised, and I guess it's no longer an underground pursuit. As the opening post suggests the stores selling Home Brew Product are now more visible than they were in the 80s and 90s, and those running them have a wider range of product and have got more professional. Part of this has to do with the success of Homebrewing in the US - the Australian scene has mirrored that in a smaller way and many of us source ingredients such as Amarillo & Cascade hops from there, and equipment such as pumps, mills, and kegging equipment from that part of the world.

Maybe our hobby as you suggest has grown in popularity slightly over the past decade, but it is a minnow compared to what has happened in the US. I was recently speaking to a homebrewer who was flying over to attend a festival in the midwest that featured 200 homebrewed 'wood aged' beers. In Australia we simply don't have the numbers to put on something like that.

But an interesting question. You'd need numbers and hard data to really know. I guess there's a lot of people in this forum.

Hopper.

Coles are in the FMGC (fast moving goods category) - turn over - quick... ready made products like water and chips will sell quicker,

not sure why sold it in the beginning - better to go to brew shop...anyway

also companies have to pay for shelf space - may not be economical - we dont know all the facts....

more brew shops opening up...

 

[HoppingMad]

Coles are in the FMGC (fast moving goods category) - turn over - quick... ready made products like water and chips will sell quicker,
companies have to pay for shelf space - may not be economical - we dont know all the facts....

We know most of the facts if you check some of the threads here on it. Actually received a letter from them (as did many here) when we all wrote in to complain. Pretty much they've said it's not profitable, they're keeping it in select stores, but deleting it from most. Big W no longer carry Homebrew kits and gear in some Vic stores either - with QV Big W being one example. It's also gone from Bilo in other states. As you suggest, it's not a 'fast moving consumer good', ie. It's not popular.

Good Afternoon,

Thank you for contacting us regarding the availability of Coopers Home Brew at Coles.

We regret to learn of your disappointment with our decision to no longer range this product and would like to extend our apologies for any inconvenience you have been caused as a result.

The decision to remove this product was not one made lightly. Our Merchandise Team is constantly reviewing our product range to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our customers.

When selecting our merchandise, previous sales history and customer demand are assessed. This includes obtaining the right balance between Proprietary brands and Coles brand products. Every product, no matter what brand, has to earn the right to remain on our shelves.

We set financial hurdles for Coles brand products as well as Proprietary products. Should the product not meet these hurdles, it is removed from sale. This rationale allows us to deliver innovation and increase space to categories with large sales growth.

As a result of our assessment, the complete product range of Home Brew products, not just the Cooper brand, has been removed from most Coles and Bi-Lo stores. There are some stores however, where the customer demand for this range is high and will remain on the shelves.

We appreciate you taking the time to provide us with your feedback. Your comments have been referred to our Merchandise Team for their consideration and information.

Yours Sincerely
Rima Rustom
Customer Care

Link to subject

Hopper.

 

[bum]

not sure why sold it in the beginning - better to go to brew shop...anyway

I beg to differ. The advice I'd get from the 15yo working at Coles who has never even had a beer let alone made one would be about as reliable the crap my LHBSs spew out. Heaps cheaper at Coles too, if you can put up with the limited range.

also companies have to pay for shelf space - may not be economical - we dont know all the facts....

Yeah, we do. Both Coopers and Coles where very forthcoming with information at the time. It is all online if you wish to see it for yourself. [EDIT: or Hopper can do it for you. Nice work, bloke!]

more brew shops opening up...

So you keep saying. Maybe there's a couple more. Maybe there's already extant LHBS starting to sell online as well as from their store-fronts. I know damned well that if there is a heap of good LHBS opening up they sure as hell aren't anywhere near me. A few crap ones will probably close down though as people slowly work out that the crap they've been told for so long is limiting them.

 

[komodo]

I think the internet has been MASSIVE for many hobbies - not just home brewing.

Dad and I are into HK-T-G and HQ holdens. Previously finding information was limited to the information we collected from panel beaters, mechanics, make/model specific wreckers and car clubs. Occasionally there would be reliable information in publications but this was often dated by the time you read it (especially with regards to re-pro & short run parts) and sometimes you'd find a gem at a swapmeet.
Along comes the popularity of the internet, forums and of course ebay.
Suddenly parts you'd been looking around for for years we're available at your finger tips. Information from a wide range of knowledgeable people - both "old school" and "new school" in their methods was available. You could make your own decisions based on a wealth of information. You find not only is there one or two ways to skin a cat - theres litterally hundreds. You have old school guys discussing ideas with the new school guys tranfering information and watching as new methods unfold in the public arena in what can really be described as "open source" ideas exchanging.

Now having said all this - do I think there are more people today doing up cars than 15-20 years ago. No. Maybe a few but it would be inline with population growth more or less. Are there more people doing things better? - Id have to say yes. People are show offs. People make a modification to a car and post pics on the internerds. People view the modifications and discuss pros and cons and tend to be fairly brutal on "unsafe" practices.

Now relate this to brewing. The information is readily available (palmers how to brew is a prime example along with this site and many others). Equipment is no longer only available to people who "know" about these things. Websites selling AG gear and shipping world wide you can buy things these days that you wouldnt have dreamed of previously. Think stirplates. How many brewers had a stir plate setup for yeast starters 10 years ago. I'd think 2/5ths of stuff all. Yet these days many guys who mash brew have stirplates and many harvest yeast and create yeast slants etc. This is because the information and the equipment is readily available.

Once again I dont think more people are home brewing - I think more of the people who are home brewing are now exposed to a wealth of information to help them expand their hobby at light speed. You can find out information these days about brewing in a few hours of internet research that previously would have taken quite litterally YEARS to find and understand. You have forums & websites where you can read about things and discuss them. You have youtube where you can watch a process happen to gain a better understanding then you can come back to the forums to discuss to further understand a process - all this can be done befor you give it a go your self so that you're more likely to have a successful first attempt - thus boosting confidence in your practices when you have a success.

 

[MarkBastard]

In an ideal world there'd be more places to drink beer at, more pubs, smaller bars, restaurants with decent beer etc. In this ideal world beer would also be sold at a fair price, say $2 a schooner, and would be of a good quality and good variety.

Bottled beer from the bottle shop would be similar, with the best beers available for $30 a carton and the cheaper beers $15 a carton.

But it's not an ideal world, so I try and correct it myself via DIY so that the equation becomes fair again. Home brew isn't the only thing I do this with, I use VoIP for example to pay a fair price for phone calls because I was sick of being shafted by Telstra.

It just so happens that doing things myself has made it even better. I can do more cool things with VoIP than a regular home phone, I can have my own beer on tap at home with home brew, I can have Foxtel on my PC and stream it to different PC's around the house without paying for multi-room due to the way I've set my foxtel up (semi-legal). Same with downloading TV shows, I no longer have to wait for the FTA networks to pick up decent shows, only to have them play the episodes out of order or not put them on because of some shit tennis game, and then end up axing the show anyway. I instead download them and again I have much more flexibility with this, and no ads.

To me it's about being an empowered consumer as much as a fun hobby. The hobby part of it isn't always fun anyway. Cleaning isn't fun. It's the thinking about home brewing that is fun IMO, not throwing hops into a boiler or removing yeast cakes from fermenters.

 

[WarmBeer]

In an ideal world there'd be more places to drink beer at, more pubs, smaller bars, restaurants with decent beer etc. In this ideal world beer would also be sold at a fair price, say $2 a schooner, and would be of a good quality and good variety.

Bottled beer from the bottle shop would be similar, with the best beers available for $30 a carton and the cheaper beers $15 a carton.

This place you speak of, I think it's called Portland, Oregon: The beer price index

 

[Bribie G]

With AG brewers I feel there are a lot of "Dark Brewers" out there, like the Dark Matter in the universe.
For example at nearly every BABBs meeting in Brisbane a few new brewers turn up. The etiquette is that they stand up and do a short intro at the meeting and I've lost count of the guys who say "oh, been AG brewing for a couple of years now - mostly Munich Helles and the occasional Dortmunder....."
They just keep coming out of the woodwork, usually not from this forum either. If it's like that in Brisbane I can imagine the underground brewing mob in Sydney or Melboure. My "other" club the Pine Rivers Underground Brewing Society is very active but rarely get to BABBs and only a handful are regulary on AHB - for example Starkesbier. Big brew day coming up and I reckon there would be 20 attending from a limited area of N Brisbane. Hence the "underground" in the name I guess

Probably a better indication of the health of the "quality end" of the craft would come from Craftbrewer, GnG, Gryphon, MHB etc etc.


Edit: I believe that there are going to be substantial changes in the distribution of kits as well with Coopers having taken over Morgans (to the best of my knowledge) so interesting times ahead.

 

[NickB]

Same as what Bribie is saying - Started a new job this week, and where I'm currently based, 3 of the 8 regulars plus myself brew in some capacity. I'm the only AG brewer, one was doing partials, one kits and bits, and one kits with good yeast.

They're out there, and it's really growing as far as I can see, especially with the quality of micro brewed beers doing the rounds these days; its much easier for people to try something other than the bland macro lagers.


Cheers

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

I think the internet has been MASSIVE for many hobbies - not just home brewing.

Dad and I are into HK-T-G and HQ holdens. Previously finding information was limited to the information we collected from panel beaters, mechanics, make/model specific wreckers and car clubs. Occasionally there would be reliable information in publications but this was often dated by the time you read it (especially with regards to re-pro & short run parts) and sometimes you'd find a gem at a swapmeet.
Along comes the popularity of the internet, forums and of course ebay.
Suddenly parts you'd been looking around for for years we're available at your finger tips. Information from a wide range of knowledgeable people - both "old school" and "new school" in their methods was available. You could make your own decisions based on a wealth of information. You find not only is there one or two ways to skin a cat - theres litterally hundreds. You have old school guys discussing ideas with the new school guys tranfering information and watching as new methods unfold in the public arena in what can really be described as "open source" ideas exchanging.

Now having said all this - do I think there are more people today doing up cars than 15-20 years ago. No. Maybe a few but it would be inline with population growth more or less. Are there more people doing things better? - Id have to say yes. People are show offs. People make a modification to a car and post pics on the internerds. People view the modifications and discuss pros and cons and tend to be fairly brutal on "unsafe" practices.

Now relate this to brewing. The information is readily available (palmers how to brew is a prime example along with this site and many others). Equipment is no longer only available to people who "know" about these things. Websites selling AG gear and shipping world wide you can buy things these days that you wouldnt have dreamed of previously. Think stirplates. How many brewers had a stir plate setup for yeast starters 10 years ago. I'd think 2/5ths of stuff all. Yet these days many guys who mash brew have stirplates and many harvest yeast and create yeast slants etc. This is because the information and the equipment is readily available.

Once again I dont think more people are home brewing - I think more of the people who are home brewing are now exposed to a wealth of information to help them expand their hobby at light speed. You can find out information these days about brewing in a few hours of internet research that previously would have taken quite litterally YEARS to find and understand. You have forums & websites where you can read about things and discuss them. You have youtube where you can watch a process happen to gain a better understanding then you can come back to the forums to discuss to further understand a process - all this can be done befor you give it a go your self so that you're more likely to have a successful first attempt - thus boosting confidence in your practices when you have a success.

Have to agree.

The amount of information has moved me from 10 years of K&K, 2 years of extract and 1yr of AG. The K&K stuff I did, such as adding spec grains, were based on 1. the limited range and 2. what made sense to me. But I can guarantee that it was as much fluke as anything - given I engaged in such dodgy practices as "roasting my own grain in the oven", not cracking grain, boiling grain at over 100 degrees because I didn't know what mashing was.

I've absorbed so much information from the internet, understood the fundamentals, linked up concepts and ideas together.

I originally started home brew because I was a poor uni student. I brew now for the enjoyment, the mental challenge (that isn't work, that is) and the quality of beer.

Goomba

 

[bowie in space]

I meet at social events has any clue about homebrewing and the old image of twangy, crap beer is still very much forward in most people's minds.

This is true. I work in the mining industry and you try telling those cynical bastards that homebrew can be good. Everyone sniggers a little when I tell them the joys and great tastes you can get from homebrew.

I brew because it's a fun and interesting hobby, I owe a lot to this site and it's contributors for the knowledge I've aquired, and despite my wage (and the fact that SWMBO has gone back to school and isn't working much) it makes sense financially and you get better beer.

Completely satisfying.

Bowie

 

[ekul]

I reckon its grown because of all the available information. I did my first brew when i was 15 for my folks. They used to let me have the odd sip. Anyway the information that i had then was on the side of the can, which consisted of add sugar and keep at least 25C, wait till airlock finishes bubbling to bottle. I was fermenting at 30C in the back room that got sun all afternoon, needless to say the beer i made was terrible.

I stopped and started brewing many times from the age of 18 to reduce the cost of beer, most of my attempts only being drinkable because i had no other option (poor uni student). The information i had said ferment at least 25C, i even had a fish tank heater rigged up at one point to keep it that high! If i had money i would buy beer, or goon. A year ago when cleaning out my shed i found some homebrews from this time, these were absolutely disgusting.

I started again at the beginning of last year when money was tight and stumbled across this site, lo and behold EVERYTHING i was doing was wrong, so i decided to give it another crack. I found i could make a drinkable kit, and an even nicer extract brew. A few months after joining the site i was doing ag and making beer that tasted like beer, not backyard hooch.

Now i'm workling full time and could afford beer if i wanted to buy it, but i don't because the beer i can make is just as good (some of t anyway!) and gives me something to tinker with. The only time that i buy beer these days is to harvest some coopers yeast or if i want to try a new style of beer/hop to see if i'd like to make it. Or if i'm at a mates place and haven't brought any with me, but this is uncommon because now i just leave a carton at a mates (if they aren't heavy drinkers) so that there's alway a tasty homebrew in the fridge whereever i may be.

The other thing that i think has made homebrew more common is BIAB. If someone has only tasted terrible homebrew made from kits (i'm not saying knk is terrible) they are unlikely to go and invest a few hundred dollars worth of 3V equipment to spend all day making beer that, in their mind, may or may not turn out marginally better than the homebrew they've tasted. However with biab, the investment is small but the results are great. Once you've made your first ag batch i doubt anyone would go back to buying beer. I know i won't be.

Price obviously comes into it, but if you don't have the education to make good beer, then no amount of savings is going to make you drink it. In saying that though, if beer prices came down to the same as, or less than, making my own, i probably wouldn't bother anymore. I'd probably do the odd batch but i think if there wasn't the price saving in it for me 90% of the time i would be buying it.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

I reckon its grown because of all the available information. I did my first brew when i was 15 for my folks. They used to let me have the odd sip. Anyway the information that i had then was on the side of the can, which consisted of add sugar and keep at least 25C, wait till airlock finishes bubbling to bottle. I was fermenting at 30C in the back room that got sun all afternoon, needless to say the beer i made was terrible.

I stopped and started brewing many times from the age of 18 to reduce the cost of beer, most of my attempts only being drinkable because i had no other option (poor uni student). The information i had said ferment at least 25C, i even had a fish tank heater rigged up at one point to keep it that high! If i had money i would buy beer, or goon. A year ago when cleaning out my shed i found some homebrews from this time, these were absolutely disgusting.

I started again at the beginning of last year when money was tight and stumbled across this site, lo and behold EVERYTHING i was doing was wrong, so i decided to give it another crack. I found i could make a drinkable kit, and an even nicer extract brew. A few months after joining the site i was doing ag and making beer that tasted like beer, not backyard hooch.

Now i'm workling full time and could afford beer if i wanted to buy it, but i don't because the beer i can make is just as good (some of t anyway!) and gives me something to tinker with. The only time that i buy beer these days is to harvest some coopers yeast or if i want to try a new style of beer/hop to see if i'd like to make it. Or if i'm at a mates place and haven't brought any with me, but this is uncommon because now i just leave a carton at a mates (if they aren't heavy drinkers) so that there's alway a tasty homebrew in the fridge whereever i may be.

The other thing that i think has made homebrew more common is BIAB. If someone has only tasted terrible homebrew made from kits (i'm not saying knk is terrible) they are unlikely to go and invest a few hundred dollars worth of 3V equipment to spend all day making beer that, in their mind, may or may not turn out marginally better than the homebrew they've tasted. However with biab, the investment is small but the results are great. Once you've made your first ag batch i doubt anyone would go back to buying beer. I know i won't be.

Price obviously comes into it, but if you don't have the education to make good beer, then no amount of savings is going to make you drink it. In saying that though, if beer prices came down to the same as, or less than, making my own, i probably wouldn't bother anymore. I'd probably do the odd batch but i think if there wasn't the price saving in it for me 90% of the time i would be buying it.

+1 - well thought out and articulated post.

Goomba

 

[manticle]

If good beer was cheap, I'd still make it.

 

[DanRayner]

If good beer was cheap, I'd still make it.

If, when I started brewing, I lived in the US where there is an incredible variety of awesome beer that are also waaaaaay cheaper than any beer in Oz - I would probably not have begun brewing.

As it is, there just wasn't/isn't the diversity of good beer that is easily available in Australia for me to consider not brewing.

 

[HoppingMad]

I think the internet has been MASSIVE for many hobbies - not just home brewing.

Very true Komodo. Talk to any old timer who's been home brewing for years and they marvel about how the internet's exchange of ideas has resulted in people getting skilled up in the craft very fast and building gear. It has certainly brought people and ideas together in a great way, and allowed them to source quickly. I suppose with greater access via the net you can wind up with a greater number of people joining the hobby. Just haven't seen any numbers on it - but would be interesting to know.

As someone mentioned, the best people to ask would be a store like Grain & Grape or Craftbrewer as they would keep a database on how many brewers they cater for, and both sell their stuff Australia-wide.

Hopper.

 

[Leigh]

Back in the late 1980's a homebrew shop appeared next to my school bus stop in the burbs of Melbourne...still there to this day! So they were around.

 

[eamonnfoley]

All credit to the USA IMO. They have created a beer movement, in the face of the decline of the classic beer countries. Many homebrewers are inspired by this.

And then there is the cheap beer people, and will be more so as costs and govt regulation increase. Buggers will be trying to tax grain and hops next......